Hi-Res Tablet Display Saves Energy By Using Fewer Pixels

Samsung and Nouvoyance are working some tablet witchcraft to create a display that saves on three-quarters of energy consumption while providing a more dynamic color palate. We've already looked at this PenTile WQXGA display, which promises a 2560 by 1600 resolution, but let's take a closer look at the tech.

While most displays cram in more pixels for higher resolution, the PenTile display actually uses larger subpixels--the bits that compose the RGB stripe of a LCD--and even uses one pixel that is completely clear. The design allows the backlight to shine more light through. It also enables the larger sub-pixels to be more effective since fewer transistors are needed to power the display.

In a typical display, the RGB stripe design of a display panel is inefficient because the density of the pixels blocks the backlight like a curtain. Regular displays also needs more transistors to power a megapixel display; but the transistors also block part of the pixels as well.

You might think an LCD driven by larger subpixels, with one-out-of-every-four being completely clear, must have a resolution in the only hundreds of pixels. But PenTile looks like it has a 1600 resolution; it achieves this effect by employing a trick of using individual subpixels.

Another way the PenTile display saves energy is by not lighting up part of the screen at all. It uses image-processing algorithms to determine the brightness of a scene, and removes backlight where it is not needed. The display, in turn, saves energy and can create higher contrast images.